Myth Information Can Be Dangerous

You see that meme there? I stole it. Well, to be honest, it has no copyright on it. Maybe it did where it was posted originally. Maybe there was something in the comments. I don’t care.

Why don’t I care? Because I’m doing the person who created this meme a favour by not including their copyright. I’m not telling the world who the person who created this lie is.

If they’re smart, they’ll take down their copy of it. Let it become an urban legend, and internet mystery. Who was it that first created and posted that stupid lying meme about 1980 and 2014?

Childhood is not a disease

There is the truth right there, childhood is not a disease. That’s where the truth of this meme ends.

Childhood is the best time to determine whether a person can benefit from medical, psychological or psychiatric intervention. This meme may actually do more harm than good in that it may encourage those who do not understand that denial is an invalid treatment regimen, to “wait it out.”

Here’s the thing, if there’s no problem with a child, then competent medical professionals will be able to determine that. If there is something that needs attention though, who would you trust your child’s well being to more, a doctor, or a meme maker?

It’s your call, of course, but if I had to guess, when asked like that, I think you might choose the doctor.

While we’re talking about disease …

It should be noted that the brilliant mind who thought this up didn’t manage to identify what ADHD, Bipolar [sic], and Depression really are. They used the word “disease.” These are disorders.

Leaving the word “disorder” out of “Bipolar Disorder” also tells how much this person knows about their chosen subject.

And can I get an amen from the 1980 crowd?

In 1980 ADHD was known. Diagnosis of ADHD was not as extensive as it is today, but it was known. The reason that fewer children were diagnosed back then was that fewer doctors recognized the symptoms, and the definition of ADHD was still lacking in several respects.

For one thing, ADHD was defined back then as a “childhood disorder.” We know that’s not true now. Children with ADHD grow up, but they do not grow out of their ADHD. It changes its presentation in some, but it doesn’t go away.

I might start making these meme things … apparently any idiot can do it.

So much for “Childhood is not a disease.”

Adulthood is not a disease either. And those of us who grew up in the 1980’s and earlier, and who went without the benefit of diagnosis then, know better than to leave the benefits of treatment off the table for those who might well struggle without them, simply because some ill informed and uneducated meme maker suggested that these disorders were just “childhood.”

My response to this meme that reveals more about its maker’s ignorance than it does about mental health is this: Thank Heaven that it is now 2014 and more and more people are benefiting from the advances in mental health understanding that you have left yourself uninformed of.

Childhood may not be a disease, but that doesn’t mean that you should not grow up and become responsible.

Do you have any idea how much damage your stupidity might cause? How much it might have already caused? Do you care?

Myth Information Can Be Dangerous

Kelly Babcock

I was born in the city of Toronto in 1959, but moved when I was in my fourth year of life. I was raised and educated in a rural setting, growing up in a manner I like to refer to as free range. I live in an area where my family history stretches back 6 or more generations. I was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 50 and have been both struggling with the new reality and using my discoveries to make my life better. I write two blogs here at Psych Central, one about having ADHD and one that is a daily positive affirmation that acts as an example of finding the good in as much of my life as I possibly can.

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